Posted on 09/12/2003 9:49:51 AM PDT by CO_dreamer
WASHINGTON - After a grenade exploded inside his Humvee in Iraq, Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Murwin was treated at a military hospital in Germany and spent four weeks at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Part of his left foot was amputated.
His medical care was free, but the government billed him $243 for the food.
Then, just three days after he received his first bill for the hospital food in Germany, he got a stern letter saying the bill was overdue. It warned that his account would be referred to a collection agency.
Murwin, like thousands of other military personnel hospitalized every year, is expected to reimburse the government $8.10 per day for food. That's standard procedure because of a law Congress passed in 1981. But it has angered many military families over the years.
When Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo, and his wife, Beverly, heard about the problem, they personally paid Murwin's tab. Then the congressman introduced a bill to change the rules.
Rep. Young said Wednesday that the soldiers "were sent to war by their country. Many of them will be handicapped for the rest of their lives - and we're asking them to pay $8.10 a day for their food! There's something really wrong with that."
The practice is especially egregious, Young said, because "the food probably isn't that good."
The rule was established because most military personnel receive $8.10 a day as a "basic allowance for subsistence" for food. But when they are hospitalized, the government tries to recoup the money on the theory that they are eating hospital food and therefore are double-dipping.
Military officials have long disliked the rule but felt they had to enforce it because of the 1981 law.
"If I could be king for a day, I'd stop it in a minute," said Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who commands the Army hospitals in the eastern United States.
The government already bends the rules for soldiers in combat. They are allowed keep the $8.10 even though they are also getting free food, according to Young's office.
Murwin, 31, a sheriff's deputy in Nevada with 10 years of active duty in the Marines and three years in the Reserves, says he was flabbergasted the government would bill him.
"Holy smokes," he said. "I'm in the hospital - and they're going to charge me for my food?"
He says he was willing to pay but thinks it's unfair that young soldiers get billed.
"What made me so hot is that (it applies to) privates and lance corporals - guys who barely make enough money to pay for their own food, let alone take care of this," Murwin said.
Kiley, the Army medical commander, said the costs can add up. "If you're here for a couple of months, you could rack up a thousand dollars," he said.
Young, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he was unaware of the law until his wife heard about it from Murwin's father-in-law. He has quickly lined up support for his bill, which would reverse the rule so military personnel do not have to pay.
His staff hasn't had time to estimate the cost of the bill, Young said, but the government has an obligation to pay for the food of injured soldiers.
The bill has 96 co-sponsors and has been endorsed by associations that represent enlisted personnel. Because of the strong support, the bill is likely to sail through Congress in the next few weeks.
Kiley said that he is glad to see the bill and that it has wide support in the military. But he disagrees with Young's unfavorable assessment of the hospital cuisine.
"It really is pretty good food," Kiley said. "It's not the same as a four-star restaurant. But we work pretty hard at it."
Murwin concurred, but said his taste buds had been dulled by weeks of eating field chow - called MREs (for Meal, Ready to Eat) - in Iraq.
"I was expecting the worst" from the hospital food, he said. "I was pleasantly surprised. I actually got a steak dinner one night."
Can WE?
How about spitting into the faces of soldiers returning from Vietnam? Incidentally, the law was passed in 1981, shortly after that War. Well, we had to do something --- at least charge them for food, those cruel baby-killers.
Why are you surprised. We have been horrible to our soldiers for almost half a century. Things started to get better after the Deser Storm and even more so after Sep 11.
But don't be surprised: our culture is sick and was such for a long time, treating horribly its finest.
The Army gives you a food allowance, and if you're hospitalized technically you're not using the food allowance outside the hospital, thus you turn it over to the hospital.
And even if public support for the war were still strong, there would have been nobody to go fight in Iraq anyway.
"It really is pretty good food," Kiley said. "It's not the same as a four-star restaurant. But we work pretty hard at it."
I was amazed at the chow in the army (80-83)- it was a hell of a lot better than the food I got at boarding school.
Yes, our government can be this crappy and even worse. Since introducing this miserable rule that forces wounded soldiers to pay for their food while in-hospital, the Veterans Administration has done similar things to disabled veterans. Such as introducing co-payments for prescriptions and cutting back on veterans hospital/ medical care.
Some people will tell you that the V.A. funds have increased this year; but the reality is that veterans medical care has been diminished this year, (increased funding or no increased funding), and it has been declining each year for about a decade now. Hospitals are closing, or being shifted and re-prioritized to "better serve" the veterans.
What this means in practice is that you'll have to travel a very long distance for certain medical care. I also have seen some VA hospitals and clinics in Massachusetts shut down completely, or move some services to distant locations, and cut back on other services. You would think that with all the billions of dollars they are spending to fight the war on terror, that they'd take good care of our veterans. This is not the case, and it's not right.
It's not so hard to believe when you think of who controlled congress in '81.
One of the most egregious requires guys who were drafted (among others) to pay a special fee to the government to have their Social Security "count" if they also earned a US government retirement.
Folks who were in government employment and were not drafted do not have to pay the special fee.
People who were draftdodgers who fled the country, but were later pardoned by Jimmy Carter, do not have to pay the special fee.
They're already doing it. Military members are paid a food allowance and when the government provides food, the military member has to pay back the food allowance for that meal.
I had a long stay in a military hospital and had to pay $250+ per month for my meals.
I was also a shelter manager for a bomb shelter. Military members were required to spend up to two weeks every 3 months living in the shelters and they had to purchase rations. I had to make sure everyone paid $4.85 for every MRE they took.
We also paid for some of our own equipment out of our own pockets. During my first trip to the middle east the military didn't provide sun glasses and we had to buy them. People who didn't have sunglasses risked permament eye damage.
In addition, I lost money on most temporary duty assignments. I once was sent from Germany to Arkansas for two months and was given $6 a day for food and quarters and had no transportation.
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